You’ll want to use email, blogging, and social media tactics to increase brand awareness, cultivate a strong online community, and retain customer loyalty. Consider sending personalized emails to past customers to impress or inspire them -- for instance, you might send discounts based off what they’ve previously purchased, wish them a happy birthday, or remind them of upcoming events.
It is increasingly advantageous for companies to use social media platforms to connect with their customers and create these dialogues and discussions. The potential reach of social media is indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the Facebook app had more than 126 million average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million average unique users.[27]
Another way to learn digital marketing is to learn it on the job. In some situations, it can be somewhat easy to get a job in the digital marketing field and then learn how things work. For example, you may take on an internship or an entry-level position that requires little to no experience. Although learning digital marketing on the job can certainly be helpful, especially if you’re a hands-on learner, most of the people miss out on the latest changes and strategies if this is the only way they are learning about digital marketing. Also, there are a lot of terminologies in this field; if you don’t learn what these terms mean from authorized sources or through your professional training, then you may end up making some unavoidable mistakes that could potentially set you back, or even worse: cost you your job.
SEO and social media are constantly changing. Google tweaks its ranking algorithm hundreds of times each year, and new social media platforms emerge constantly. In order to remain authoritative when it comes to online marketing, you must be passionate about lifelong learning. This means staying on top of industry news, attending conferences and regularly networking with others in the digital marketing space.
Conversion rate optimization is all about testing. Many companies get too bogged down in design and what they think looks best and will convert. At the end of the day, you don’t know until you test. At IMI, we have the tools, technology, and expertise to not only build well-optimized web pages but to test them once they go live. Our conversion rate optimization can not only save our client’s money but generate millions in revenue.
You never know when the breakthrough will come, it could be next week, it might even be tomorrow, or it could take six more months. If things are getting on top of you then take a step back from your business and re-think your strategy. Ask yourself, “Am I focusing my energy, time and investment on areas conducive to leading me to my goal?” “Are there things I am avoiding, ignoring or only doing half heartedly that could better position me for success?”
Implement – this is where you just need to go and do it. But don’t focus on all forms of online marketing at once. Otherwise, you will be spreading yourself thin, and you’ll never become great at one thing. Instead, try to focus on one section until you feel that you are pretty good at it. For example, I got good at SEO first, then social media marketing and then content marketing. Now, I am focusing my efforts on email marketing.
Josh Steimle had quite an early start when he put up his digital marketing agency called MWI back in 1999 while juggling this then-startup and college. All his efforts paid off, and he’s now the CEO of this company that’s still killing it. He also shares his knowledge by contributing to major publications such as Mashable, Forbes, TechCrunch, and Entrepreneur.com. Plus, he’s a TEDx presenter and the author of “Chief Marketing Officers at Work.”